Sometimes an empty building looks so creepy that it begs to be explored. Halcyon Hall of Bennett College is one such building, and with its vast size and deteriorated look it has become somewhat of a poster child for haunted places. What is its history and is it haunted?

Poster Child of Haunted Places

Halcyon Hall in ruins.

Some places have a very creepy look to them, with their rotting timbers, smashed windows, missing doors, sagging roofs and a lot of dead plant growth. The photograph of this building has all of this, giving it such a high 'creepiness' factor that it has been seen in many 'Would you dare sleep here at night', and 'You know your a paranormal investigator if...' style posts. It almost seems to be a poster child for haunted locations, however most who have posted the picture do not know what or where it is. The building is named Halcyon Hall, and was the main structure for Bennett College, an all women's college that provided education, starting with high school and all the way through college on its grounds. The building was built in 1893 in Millbrook, New York, and was originally a 200 room hotel resort. The resort was funded by publisher H.J. Davison Jr and designed by James E. Ware. Unfortunately, for the financier, the hotel didn't draw the crowds it needed to stay open as a viable business, so was forced to shut down

Bennett College in 1910.

In order to cut his losses, Davison Jr searched for a buyer. In 1907, May Bennett purchased the hotel and converted it into the new home for the Bennett School for Girls (later named just Bennett College). The school had been founded in 1890 in Irvington, New York, but needed a larger premises. Many prominent American families sent their daughters for the six years of education that Bennett College provided, including a very robust curriculum that included music, design (fashion and interior), languages, literature, drama, dance, domestic science... and much, much more.

Reception Hall during college days.

For seventy years the Bennett School continued educating the women of high society, but soon large amounts of mandatory spending would cause Bennett College to close. A state of the art science centre, and conversion to turn the school into a co-educational facility, along with low enrolment numbers, was too much for it to bare and, in 1978, the college was closed. The five stories and double basement sat unused for a number of years before Halcyon Hall was purchased by a collection of people who made attempts at renovating it, to see new life, but all ultimately ended in failure.

It has since become a haven for urban explorers who derive great enjoyment by exploring its floors and rooms. Much of the furniture remains, including school desks and cupboards, but all have long been stripped bare.

Wreck and Ruin

Burst pipes caused most of the rot and damage.

During one extremely cold winter the water pipes burst, and as there was still a water service, the hall was flooded, creating much water damage, weakening the structure and causing many of the ceilings to collapse.

Plants and trees can be seen growing indoors where sunlight permits, and much moss, mould and fungus has attached itself to surfaces both inside and out.

As for hauntings, there are not a lot of stories out there, but if you do some digging you can find some curious experiences related by some of the people who have ventured into the structure.

Most are typically events concerning doors closing when you are not looking (walking up to a door, having your attention distracted and you turn around but upon turning back the door had silently closed), rooms turning pitch black in a matter of seconds, even during the day and of course footsteps and the sounds of running and playing.

However, there is one type of experience that people have been having that is quite creepy. Many times when groups of explorers enter the building they find it so vast that they split up into more than one group, in order to better cover all the ground.

Interior staircase (by Steven Bley).

When one of the groups starts to enter either the basement or attic space they will find that a member of one of the other groups has caught up to them to tell them they "are all meeting back at another location and to come quickly" before turning around and heading back off. The group will make it back to the meeting location and no one will be there. After waiting a while, it becomes evident that something is amiss, and at a later time when they are all gathered and an enquiry is made it will be discovered that all the groups had stayed together the whole time and no one was sent to the others with a message. The conclusion is that something does not want people to venture into the attic or basement at certain times and it will take on the likeness of another in the group in order to cause them to turn back. Creepy...

The Fate for Halcyon Hall

Halcyon Hall by night.

Halcyon Hall was scheduled for demolition in 2009 but for reasons the demolition was suspended. A new permission for demolition was granted and a new date was set for 2010, then 2011 and now December 2012. At the time of writing I can not confirm whether the demolition has taken place or whether the building has once again been saved from the wrecking ball and the condominiums planned to be built in its stead.

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